Black Bean Soup Recipe, a healthy food which packs so much flavor, your kitchen will smell like heaven!ADVERTISEMENTS
When a friend walks in and says, 'your kitchen smells of heaven...', you know you've got your recipe right! 
? Healthy Eating Made Easy.comThis delicious homemade soup is very simple to make, especially if you use canned beans. Try to find the type that are canned without added sugar and salt, and whatever sort you buy, drain them well and rinse under running water before use.
I used dried beans for this recipe. Dried beans pretty much double in weight when soaked, so from a 500g pack, I ended up with over a kilo of beans - enough to make a lot of soup! I have frozen the soaked, cooked beans before, fairly successfully, but don't keep them in the freezer for too long as they tend to turn mushy when thawed - fine for soups, but maybe not the texture you're looking for in other dishes.
For my first batch of soup I used a very basic recipe with nothing beyond onion and garlic to add savour. I garnished it with a swirl of yogurt and some chopped spring onions (see photo above).
The soup was warming and pleasant, but it lacked interest and kick, so for this version I've spiced it up with harissa, fresh coriander (cilantro) and lime juice. Delectable!
Ingredients750g/4 cups cooked black beans (if using dried, see instructions in Method, or else use the drained contents of 3 x 450g cans)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
500ml/2 cups hot water or stock
juice of 1 lime
plain low fat yogurt, harissa (chilli) paste, chopped fresh coriander (cilantro) to garnish
Serves 4
Method
To prepare the dried beans, soak 320g/1½ cups of dried beans overnight in plenty of cold water. Drain, rinse well and place in a large pan, cover generously with cold water, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for around 45 minutes until tender. Drain well.Soften the onion and garlic in the olive oil for 5 minutes.Add the beans, stir well, and pour over the hot water or stock.Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins. Stir in the lime juice.Process the soup briefly in a blender or food processor so that some beans break down to thicken the liquid and others remain whole. Thin with more water or stock if you wish.To serve, top each bowlful with a dollop of plain yogurt topped with ½ tsp harissa (or less, to taste) and a generous scattering of chopped fresh coriander (cilantro).
To get the best results with this black bean soup recipe, it's really important not to omit the garnish, which gives the soup its distinctive aromatic flavor.
Did your family love it? Did you change it around? Did it taste good? Please share...
If you enjoyed this easy soup, try our other soup recipes:Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Carrot and Lentil Soup Recipe
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Easy Onion Soup with Gruyere Toasts
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Pumpkin Soup Recipes
Spicy Lentil Soup
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Vegetable Soup Recipe
Zesty Carrot Soup
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